PROJECT SUMMARY ? Administrative Core The Administrative Core is the center of the Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), providing leadership, support, and oversight for all CFAR-related activities, and added value through the creation of synergistic interactions and stimulation of productive collaborations among Duke HIV/AIDS investigators as well as throughout the inter-CFAR network and beyond. Led by Director Kent Weinhold, PhD, and Co-Director John Bartlett, MD, the Core will continue to work with the Department of Surgery, the academic home of the Duke CFAR, to provide overall financial management, maximizing the impact of CFAR funding on the establishment of critical infrastructure in service to the community of HIV/AIDS researchers at Duke. Core responsibilities include budgeting and allocating/re-allocating Core funds, preparing fiscal expense reports, ensuring regulatory compliance, managing pilot grant awards, and ensuring cost efficient delivery of rigorous research resources to our users. Administrative Core leadership will work closely with the External and Internal Advisory Committees as well as the CFAR Executive Committee to fully implement all approved directives, programmatic changes, and new initiatives, thus facilitating all aspects of the CFAR Strategic Planning process. The Core organizes all symposia, scientific retreats, seminars, workshops, and strategic planning sessions, and assists the Developmental Core in conducting scientific peer review of the applications received in response to semi-annual Duke CFAR Pilot Grant RFAs. The Administrative Core promotes comprehensive communication among the CFAR membership through the e-mail listserv and newly re-designed Duke CFAR website (http://www.cfar.duke.edu), as well as a quarterly newsletter. The Core will continue to serve as the main point of contact between the Duke CFAR and the NIH CFAR Program Staff, and will be responsible for organizing and submitting all forms of written and electronic communication with the NIH, including annual Progress Reports, requests for supplemental funding, requests for investigator status changes, rebudgeting requests, and competitive renewal applications. Most importantly, the Administrative Core is firmly committed to building strong collaborative interactions among its Strategic Partners on campus as well as throughout the extramural HIV/AIDS research community at large. This Core will continue to promote collaboration, coordination, and innovation to accelerate advancement toward our goals of HIV prevention and improving outcomes for patients with HIV/AIDS, while maintaining strategic alignment with both the National CFAR Mission Statement and the NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research.